The Entertainment Software Rating Board (or ESRB) has listed this SNK classic among upcoming releases on the Playstation Network, to be played on PS3 and PSP. Soon to be restored, the Playstation Store will offer this game (after almost thirty years from its original release!) as part of a major plan to revive SNK games.

Marvin’s Maze is an arcade game released in 1983 by SNK. The player takes control of Marvin, this weird alien-like creature that has to clear a series of mazes while fending off the hostile Robonoids.

The mazes consist of two floors (from which Marvin can go up and down by means of elevators located at the foremost corners) of intricate hallways that sometimes connect to each other by bridges that change orientation or position. To clear the mazes, Marvin can either eat up all the Dots scattered through them, or destroy a certain number of Robonoids. This number is shown at the bottom of the screen, and increases as levels are cleared. To destroy the Robonoids, Marvin can shoot them, but only after having obtained a Super Dot; or, open the floor right below them to perform “the Trick”.

Getting Dots, Super Dots, and clearing a stage is awarded with a regular amount of points, while destroying Robonoids provides more and more points with each kill, plus a bonus from performing “the Trick”.

To get a feel of how the game was back in the day, check this clip. Just sit back and listen to the music, and tell me later if you can get it out of your head.

Modern-day games owe everything to oldies like this one. Not only a feeling of respect fills my heart when I contemplate it: it is also admiration. Back then, games needed to be simple: there simply weren’t enough resources. And yet brave people managed to make entertaining and challenging works of audiovisual art out of them. More classics will surely reach immortality with the help of the PSN, so let’s stay sharp.

Developer Housemarque brings gamers a new 2D platform game that is jaw-dropping beautiful with a game play twist involving light that is sure to please.

What if I told you that there’s a game that not only combines the illuminating visuals of Tron, the platforming grace of Prince of Persia, the explorability of Metroid, and for added gaming mechanic flavor, the classic bullet-hell shooter Ikaruga? Whoa! Put down your pitch forks! What I say is not a lie – such a game does exist, and it’s called Outland.

Outland is an upcoming 2D platform game by Housemarque, a name many of you should be familiar with if you’ve every played their other awesome digital titles such as Super Stardust HD and Dead Nation. With both of those games being twin-stick shooters, Outland marks Housemarque’s first attempt at making a game that appears to be much in the mold of traditional platformers, where exploration and puzzle solving is as much important as combat and level maneuverability.

Oh, and did I mention how beautiful Outland looks – because it really does look absolutely marvelous upon first glance. I mentioned Tron before hand, and that reference hardly describes Outlands very unique visuals – a blend of shadows and lights, bright neon colors, and a mix of tribal and natural themes that really grab a hold of your eyes. This use of visuals isn’t just there to please the eye though, it also used in game play too.

Players will take a role of a young warrior, who, after having a strange dream, wakes up and embarks on an adventure to seek the meaning of his visions, all while defeating whatever evil stands in his way. Half of the game has you discovering upgrades to your abilities, which will allow you to progress further into the game (hmm, kinda like Metroid,) while the other half – the combat side – centers around this interesting concept of light, which as I said before, ties in with the visuals.

Through much of Outland, in order to fight off enemies, jump on certain platforms, and solve puzzles, your silhouetted hero will need to corresponding with a certain color, either blue or red; so let’s say, if a spider monster is blue, your character needs to be red in order to defeat it. Basically, in order to master Outland, you’ll need to be able to switch between these colors skillfully.

It might sound as if the game play in Outland might be a real pain as you go deeper into your heroic journey, but it could be a most satisfying one, once proficiently learned – which could be said of game like Hard Corps: Uprising or Moon Diver (both fun games too!) Add to that, a backdrop that is simply breathtaking to look at, and you’ve got the makings of a great gaming quest, when Outland is released on April 26, all for just – get this – $10! A steal of a deal? You bet it is.